A CARE home has been taken out of special measures after being rated ‘good’ by a watchdog’s inspectors.

Stamford Bridge Beaumont was said to be ‘inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last year, following a visit by inspectors to the home in Stamford Bridge. They highlighted a string of alleged failings, including claims that two elderly patients were not washed for more than a year.

But now the CQC has published a report after a fresh inspection, saying improvements had been made and the home was no longer rated as inadequate overall or in any of the key areas. “Therefore, this service is now out of special measures,” it said.

“Although some areas of guidance and documentation needed embedding into day to day staff practice, overall there had been significant progress and improvement made throughout the service.”

The report said that at its last inspection, safeguarding incidents had not been reported to external agencies, staff felt unable to use the whistle blowing process to report concerns, staff were using restraint without relevant training and accidents and incidents were not recorded in a timely manner or adequate action taken to prevent recurrences.

“During this inspection we found that the provider had taken action and made significant improvements,” it said. “Systems were in place for the management of medicines so that people received their medicines safely.”

The report said group activities were regularly organised and a new activities co-ordinator was in place, with the activities team speaking with people to find out their likes and interests to ensure one-to-one activities and outings were more meaningful

It said the management of medicines had improved considerably and the use of agency staff had reduced, with additional permanent staff recruited to maintain consistency.

“Staff spoke passionately about their role at Barchester,” it said. “Staff morale was high, which had improved team working across the service.

“Staff were knowledgeable about people’s needs and supported them wherever possible to be as independent as they could be.”

Care home general manager Victoria Edwards said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the recent inspection, which is a reward and acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication of the team at Stamford Bridge Beaumont.”